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NC, BJP flay govt for ignoring Doda
Indo-Pak bus: 100 travel forms issued
Four militants killed in valley
Justice Nirmal Singh to join J&K Bench
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Villagers set 3 govt buildings ablaze
Army jawan commits suicide
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NC, BJP flay govt for ignoring Doda
Jammu, March 4 The PDP — Congress coalition came under severe criticism from the National Conference (NC) and BJP members for not having so far reached certain affected areas of Doda district of Jammu even after about a fortnight. Several villages in the district are still buried under snow and there is no contact with the residents. The question hour in the Assembly was suspended today and discussion on the damages caused due to the snowstorm was put on the top of the agenda of today’s business. The NC members came down heavily on the civil administration whom they accused of having delayed the rescue operations as a result of which houses in certain areas remained buried under snow for four days. There was acute shortage of essential commodities in the Kashmir valley. Mr Sajjad Kichloo (NC) pointed out that step-motherly treatment was being provided to Doda district where the administration had not yet dispatched foodstuffs and other essential commodities. The government was bothered only about the valley where fresh vegetables, milk, eggs and other commodities were being flown from here. He said there was no contact with a population of about 16,000 in the Wadwan, Merwah and Dachhen areas of Doda which were buried under snow. An entire family was buried under snow and avalanches since February 19 and no steps have been taken by the authorities to extricate them, he added. Mr Abdul Rahim Rather, leader of the opposition, claimed that there were differences in the Cabinet over the relief and rescue operations and a minister had threatened to resign. He said conflicting statements on the damage had further confused the situation. The marooned people were facing hardships due to lapses of the government. Mr Ali Mohammad Sagar (NC) said the government should accept its failure to prevent hoarding and black-marketing of essential commodities in the Kashmir valley while the Jammu-Srinagar highway remained blocked for 13 days. Replying to the discussion, Chief Minister Mufti Sayeed said yesterday efforts were made by a helicopter to reach Wadwan in Doda, but it failed. A tentative loss of about Rs 1500 crore has been assessed in the state. He refuted allegations that the administration was sleeping while the people were facing miseries. He appreciated the civil administration and the defence forces for immediately swinging into action and providing relief to the people. The Mufti said the local administration and men of the border roads organisation restored various roads that were covered under snow. He said top priority was being given to restoration of the road network and residents of the avalanche prone areas would be resettled elsewhere at safer places.
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Indo-Pak bus: 100 travel forms issued
Srinagar, March 4 The announcement to issue more applications for the subsequent trips on the bus would be made later, said Mr John S. Shilshi, Regional Passport Officer, who issued the application forms here. He said that the Governments of India and Pakistan had decided to facilitate travel of 30 to 40 passengers across during a fortnight. “The applications issued today are meant for the first two trips on the bus,” Mr Shilshi said, adding that more applications would be issued subsequently. The applications were being issued on first come first serve basis, while efforts were being made to avoid “unnecessary wait” for the applicants. “It is no different from the application forms for passports,” said a number of those who got the forms at the TRC here, where the application forms were issued today. “We did not know about the issuance of these forms”, they claimed and said that there was no proper announcement in this regard. Several others returned dejected for not having been able to get one as the whole lot was issued within the first one hour this morning. The application forms to be submitted by the next week, comprises six sets, each going to different departments for verification, with one of these going to the Government of Pakistan. The process for those travelling from the other side of the LoC would be same, with one set of application form being sent to the government here.
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Four militants killed in valley
Srinagar, March 4 Official sources said the security forces on a tip-off cordoned off a village at Mattan in Anantnag district last evening to nab militants. However, when the troops were about to storm a particular house, they came under heavy fire from militants. The security forces immediately tightened the cordon around the house and engaged the militants in an encounter. The sources said four militants, who could not be identified yet, were killed in the clash. Three AK rifles and other arms and ammunition were seized from the slain militants. Meanwhile, the security forces cordoned off New Colony Batmaloo in the city early this morning following information that some militants were hiding there. After sealing all the exit points, the security forces conducted a house-to-house search. All the male members were frisked and their identity cards checked. Later the cordon was lifted. However, no one was arrested. — UNI |
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Justice Nirmal Singh to join J&K Bench
Chandigarh, March 4 Mr Justice Nirmal Singh’s wife Paramjit Kaur Gulshan is a Shiromani Akali Dal MP from Bathinda. He is expected to take oath in the J&K High Court later this month. Meanwhile, there are indications that a Judge of the J&K High Court will be transferred to the Punjab and Haryana High Court. |
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Villagers set 3 govt buildings ablaze
Srinagar, March 4 The protesters, mostly villagers of Matribugh and nearby villages, converged on Shopian town this morning, raising slogans against the Army, which has launched a cordon and search operation in the area for the past four days. “They demanded immediate lifting of the cordon and search operations,” said Deputy Commissioner, Pulwama. The demonstrators set ablaze three government buildings in the town, which included offices of the SDM, the tehsil office and court building of the Chief Judicial Magistrate. The police lobbed teargas shells and fired into the air to quell the demonstrators. An unspecified number of official vehicles were also damaged by the angry demonstrators, the police said. Reacting to the reports, a defence spokesman said here that the protest against operations being conducted in Matribugh was organised at the behest of separatists. The protesters were mainly from villages near Shopian and a few claimed to be from Matribugh, while the miscreants turned violent leading to a case of arson in the town. He said holed-up militants had been making “fervent appeals on their radio sets to other organisations to organise protests so that they can escape”. The security forces have recovered one weapon and a blood-stained blanket, indicating that the holed-up militants have one injured member. The spokesman added that it was ensured that food and medical care was provided to the villagers all through the search operation for the past two days. Meanwhile, an inquiry has been ordered into the incident of the killing of two youths from the Shopian area, who had been allegedly killed in custody by the Army. The bodies of these two youths, Mukhtar Ahmad Bhat of the Zainapora area and Mohammad Rafiq Ganai of the Kulgam area, were exhumed yesterday and handed over to their relatives. Samples for DNA tests have also been taken and are being sent to Kolkata for examination, Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, said. The defence spokesman, denying reports of custodial killing here today, “reiterated that both persons killed are confirmed terrorists”. He said the two militants were killed near Sharatpora village in Shopian when they opened fire on an ambush party on being challenged on February 26. |
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Army jawan commits suicide
Srinagar, March 4 Hav Vidya Datt of Garwal Regiment shot himself with his service rifle in the Keran sector of north Kashmir in the wee hours of the day, the sources said. They said the reason behind the jawan taking the extreme step was not known immediately.
— PTI |
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Where border
residents help resolve BSF-Rangers rows
Samba Sector International border (Jammu), March 4 These old border residents used fields on both sides of the border as playgrounds before Partition even as their families were divided between the two countries. They can easily identify the sites where pillars were raised during the Maharaja’s period. These persons visit the site of the possible location of a pillar and identify it with the help of other physical landmarks available on the ground on both sides of the border. When the Pakistani Rangers and the BSF fail to identify the sites because of their conflicting stands, these old people play a great role. This is the sector where fencing has been done but for a stretch of around 1200 metres on the Basant Nullah culvert where work is in progress. There is no zero line on the border. The unmanned Pakistani tower during the day allows this correspondent to touch Pakistani territory and even receive a mobile call unlike on other borders where mobiles are jammed. The authorities said that fencing and installation of lights on the border had been done with great difficulty amidst firing from the Pakistani side. The Indian authorities first had to put up a mud wall to hide the work of fencing. The Pakistani Rangers used to target the machinery used for making concrete platforms for fencing. Pakistani guns have now fallen silent. Just five metres away is another fence put up by India during the eighties to stop Pakistani and Indian cattle from crossing over the border but they still managed to intrude into each other’s territory, calling for meetings between the Rangers and the BSF.
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